Buffer spring for railway passenger cars



May 28, 1935. GlLPlN 2,002,632

BUFFER SPRING FOR RAILWAY PASSENGER CARS Filed March 20, 1933 Patented May 28, 1935 UNITED STATES BUFFER seams son R ILW Y PASSENGER oAns Garth G. Gilpin, Riverside, 111., assignor to. Union. Metal Products Company, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application March 20,.

23 Claims.

The invention relates to railway. passenger train cars, and more particularly to a mechanism positioned between the end wall of the car and the upper part of the diaphragm face plate, and an object of the. invention is to provide a mechanism which yieldingly retains the upper part of the face plate at a predetermined distance from the end wall of the car and in the longitudinal center of the? carwhen the car is not coupled to another car, but allows the face plate to movetoward the end wall of the car when the car is. coupled toanother car and also to, accommodate the movements of the car when running. My device also yieldingly allows the face plate to. assume an oblique position when the car is rounding a curve and/ or to move laterally of the car under service conditions. Furthermore, the device allows the face plate to move vertically relative to the end wall of the car to allow for the wearing of the lower face plate supports and/ or allows one end of the spring to move ver-,

tically relative to the other end of the spring because frequently the lower support at one side of the face plate wears more than the support at the other side of the face plate. Furthermore, the face plates and the bufiing mechanism are not always accurately installed on the car. My invention accommodates all of the above mentioned movements of the face plate without binding any of the associated parts and at the same time returns the face plate to a predetermined relative position to the end wall of the car when free to do so.

.In the drawing: 7 i

Fig. 1 is a perspective of the end of a railway car showing the usual relation between the end wall, diaphragm face plate and upper buffer mechanism.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged plan View of the upper bufir mechanism in normal position.

Fig. 3 is thesame as Fig. 2 with the upper buffer mechanism compressed; 1

Fig. 4 is the same as Fig. 2 showing the diaphragm face plate in an oblique position.

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show the relation between the end post and buffer mechanism.

In the drawing the usual parts of the car are shown, such as the end wall 2; diaphragm 3 and diaphragm face plate 4. l l

The drawing shows the usual semi-elliptic spring 5 attached to the diaphra mface plate 4 in the usual (8) or any desirable manner. The brackets to are mounted upon the end wall 2 of the car substantially equi-distant on each side thickness of the lips 32 of the sprin Where 1933, Serial No 661,646 r 1. 05-14,) a

of the center line of the car and each bracket is provided with a bearing [2. Theleaf spring 6 is provided with a separate shoe I4 whichslidably engages the bearings 12 oi the brackets and preferably a wearing plate [6 is provided b- 5 tween the bearing surfaces of the brackets arid the shoes so that the entire wear is taken by the shoes and wearing plates. The brackets are preferably provided with spacedapartsubstahtially horizontal 'flan g'es fil -2U and a bolt"22 passing through apertures in these flangisretains the shoe 14, the spring 6 aii'dalsotliewearing plate 16. if used,in'cooperativerelation'with each otherso that in order to disassemble the device for replacements or'repairs it imply-neeessary to remove the bolt 22. These flanges l820 also are guideways for the slide Hi The shoe is preferably provided witlia stop 24 which engages the bolt .2; to limit themtveineiit of'tlie shoe toward the center of the ear. By this means the movement of the face plate away from" the car is' restricted to a predetermined amount. The shoe it may be prtividd; i'fdes'irdfwith means to engage the bracket to restrict this movement of the shoe toward the center of "the car. (Not shown.) While a semi-elliptic spring is usually used and seems preferable, nevertheless, my device would'work with "a 'f ull elliptic springor with a flatleaf spr ng; that isjwh'er'e the spring comprises aplur'ality of flat leaves of various lengths.

Each shoe [4 is provided with a guide 30 which is substantially parallel 'withthe bearingsurface l2 of the shoe so that the bolt 22 retains'the shoe in close proximity to the wearing surfacewh'en 5 the spring is under compression. (This occurs when the car is not coupled to another car.) In the drawing I have showri'a sirhpleihethod of attaching the shoe to the end of the spring "which consists of providing'a laterally extending 4p lip 32 on the spring which is loosely positioned between the spaced apart portions 34- 3li" of the shoe. In this arrangement the shoe is hooked on tothe end oithe spring by simply oscillating are little abput th l ,1 a t r we e Sh??? is put in placeupon the bracket ill and the bolt 32 n e d; {Th d s a b ween the spaced ar portions 34-36 of the shoe is greater th the we end 'Q th s in sa sie e i ligilae' as are end thereof without binding the spring in the shoe- T v ti l he gh ii of he er es n m l f h sh e s re ter tha t e verti a width 4.0 ofthe spri 6 whe eby the spring ma 55.5

move bodily Vertically relative to the shoes (and to the wall of the car).

This arrangement also allows relative movement between the spring and the shoe in a horizontal plane and/or in a vertical plane substantially parallel to the wall of the car and/or in a vertical plane normal to the wall of the car, thus it will be seen that the spring is attached to the shoe to allow movement between the two parts in substantially any combination of directions' The shoe is provided with a bearing 4 for the spring which is preferably elongated to obtain a surface bearing and the spring is provided with a similar portion engaging said bearing.

'In my arrangement the wear caused by the friction between the moving parts is taken by the shoe and the bracket (or by the wearing plate if used) and not by the spring, which is very desirable, because the spring is very expensive in comparison with the shoe which can be made of cast metal or the bracket or wearing plate whichcan be made of steel plate.

The accompanying drawing illustrates the pre- .ferred form of the invention, though it is to be 25 understood that the invention is not limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, as it is obvious that various modifications thereof, within the scope of the claims, will occur to persons skilled in the art.

I claim: I

1. In a buffer mechanism for a railway car diaphragm face plate, the combination of brackets mounted upon the car in spaced relation, each comprising a web forming a bearing and spaced apart flanges forming guideways, a shoe slidably engaging the web of each bracket between the respective guideways, each bracket provided with a pin passing through apertures in said flanges, and

Ya leaf spring having each end loosely attached to one of said shoes, said elements associated and arranged so that the pins retain the spring in engagement with the shoe.

2. In a buffer mechanism for a railway car the combination of brackets mounted upon the car in spaced relation, each comprising a Web forming a bearing and spaced apart flanges forming guideways, a

shoe slidably engaging the web of each bracket between the respective guideways, each bracket provided with a pin passing through apertures in the flanges, and a leaf spring having each end loosely attached to one of said shoes, said elements associated and arranged so that the pins retain the shoes in engagement with the brackets and retain the spring in engagement with the shoe,

In a buffer mechanism for a railway car diaphragm faceplate, the combination of brackets mounted upon the car in spaced relation, each comprising a web forming a bearing and spaced apart flanges forming guideways, a shoe slidably engaging the web of each bracket between the respective guideways, each bracket pro- 65 V vided with a pin passing through apertures in the flanges, and a leaf spring having each end loosely attached to one of said shoes, said elements associated and arranged so that the pins retain the shoes in engagement with the brackets, retain the spring in engagement with the shoe and limit the slidable movement of the shoes relative to the brackets.

4. In a buffer mechanism for a railway car diaphragm face plate, the combination of brackets mounted upon the car in spaced relation, each of a surface contact is maintained between said surfaces and said webs during service movements of the mechanism.

5. In a buffer mechanism for a railway car diaphragm face plate, the combination of brackets mounted upon the car in spaced relation, a shoe provided with a substantially flat surface slidably engaging the web of each bracket, and a leaf spring having each end attached to one of said shoes, said elements associated and arranged whereby a spring movement of the spring causes the shoes to slide upon the bracket bearings though permitting oscillating movements of the shoes relative to the ends of the spring in a vertical plane.

6. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buffer mechanism positioned between said elements comprising a leaf spring having its medial portion attached to one of said elements, said spring provided with a separate shoe at each end thereof provided with a substantially flat surface having a slidable engagement with the other of said elements so that the ends of the spring are spaced apart from said other element during service movements of the mechanism whereby wear caused by movement of the spring relative to said other element is taken by the shoes.

'7. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a bufier mechanism positioned between said elements comprising a leaf spring having its medial portion attached to one of said elements, said spring provided with a separate shoe at each endthereof provided with a substantially flat surface having a slidable engagement with the other of said elements so that the ends of the spring are spaced apart from said other element during service movements of the mechanism whereby wear caused by movement of the spring relative to said other element is taken by the shoes, and means to retain the shoe in sliding engagement with said other elements.

8. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buffer mechanism positioned between said elements comprising spaced apart brackets on one of said elements, a leaf spring having its medial portion attached to one of said elements, said spring provided with a separate shoe at each end thereof provided with a substantially flat surface having a slidable engagement with the other of said elements so that the ends of the spring are spaced apart from said other element during service movements of the mechanism whereby wear caused by movement of the spring relative to said other element is taken by the shoes, each of said brackets having spaced apart substantially horizontal walls forming guideways for the slidable shoe, and means to retain the shoe in sliding engagement with the brackets.

9. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buffer mechanism positioned between said elements comprising spaced apart brackets mounted upon one of said elements, a leaf spring provided with a aooaese loparateiho'o ateach end thereof provided with :shoe' being greater than the vertical; width o -nummis11 flat surfacehaving a slidable" engagement with 7 said brackets, respectively, and

apertures in said walls located in close proximity outer. sliding surface of the shoe forming means to retain theshoe in slidingengagement with the brackets. 4 I

- a '10. Inc railway car having a wall el m t and a diaphragm face plateelement, .a buffer-mechanism positi ned between said elements comp in spaced apart-brac ets. m unted p n one at said. elements, a leaf spri p ed, w h a separate shoe at eachend the eof. having a slidable enseeement-with'seid a k ts, sp ti ly,

and having its medial portion attached to the other of said elements, :each of said brackets having spaced apart substantially horizontal wall forming suideway for thevslida ble shoe,

3 pin, passing throughapertures in said walls located close proximity to arr-outer sliding surface of the shoe, each of said shoes having'a part thereof engageable with the pin upon a predeterm ned sliding movement of the shoe 'to limit the movement of the face plate away from the wall.

11. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buffer mechanism positioned between said elements comprising a leaf spring provided with a separate shoe at each end thereof and having its medial portion attached to the other of said elements, each end of said spring having a laterally extending lip positioned between spaced apart portions of the shoe parallel to said lip whereby each shoe is moved longitudinally of the spring upon compression and expansion of the spring.

12. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buffer mechanism positioned between said elements comprising a leaf spring provided with a separate shoe at each end thereof and having its medial portion attached to the other of said elements, each end of said spring having a laterally extending lip positioned between spaced apart portions of the shoe parallel to said lip whereby each shoe is moved longitudinally of the spring upon compression and expansion of the spring, the distance between said portions of each of said shoes being greater than the thickness of the lips of the spring whereby one end of the spring may move higher than the other end thereof without binding the spring in the shoes.

13. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buifer mechanism positioned between said elements comprising a leaf spring provided with a separate shoe at each end thereof having a sliding engagement with one of said elements, said spring having its medial portion attached to the other of said elements, each end of the spring and the adjacent shoe associated and arranged whereby one end of the spring may move higher than the other end thereof without binding the spring in the shoes.

14. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buffer mechanism positioned between said elements comprising a leaf spring bearing upon a shoe at each end thereof having a sliding engagement with one of said elements, said spring having its medial portion attached to the other of said elements, the vertical height of the spring bearing of the the spring whereby the spring may move verti- :cally relative to the shoes v a diaphragmface plateelement, a hufier rnechanismpositioned between said elements comprising aleaf spring'bearing upon a shoe at each end thereof having a sliding engagement with one of said elements, said spring having its medial portion attached to the other of said elements, each end of thespring and the adjacent shoe associated and arranged whereby the spring may move vertically relative to the shoes.

16. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buffer mechation attachedto the other of said elements, each end of the spring and the adjacent shoe associated and arranged whereby one end of the spring may move higher'than the other end thereof without binding the spring in the shoes and whereby the spring may move vertically relative t to the shoes.

1 7. In a railway car having a wall. element and. a diaphragm face plate element, a, buffer mechanism positioned between said elements comprising a leaf spring bearing upon a shoe at each end thereof and having its medial portion attached to the other of said elements, each end of said spring having a laterally extending lip positioned between spaced apart portions of the shoe parallel to said lip whereby each shoe is moved longitudinally of the spring upon compression and expansion of the spring, the distance between said portions of each of said shoes being greater than the thickness of the lips of the spring whereby one end of the spring may move higher than the other end thereof without binding the spring in the shoes and the vertical height of the spring bearing of the shoe being greater than the vertical width of the spring whereby the spring may move vertically relative to the shoes.

18. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buffer mechanism positioned between said elements comprising a leaf spring provided with a separate shoe at each end thereof having a sliding engagement with one of said elements, said spring having its medial portion attached to the other of said elements, each end of said spring having a laterally extending lip and each shoe provided with spaced apart portions parallel to said lip whereby the shoes are attached to the spring to move therewith by hoo'king the said lips between the said portions of the respective shoes and means to retain the shoes in sliding relation to said element.

19. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buffer mechanism positioned between said elements comprising a leaf spring provided with a separate shoe at each end thereof having a sliding engagement with one of said elements, said spring having its medial portion attached to the other of said elements, each end of said spring having a laterally extending lip and each shoe provided with spaced apart portions parallel to said lip whereby the shoes are attached to the spring to move therewith by hooking the said lips between the said portions of the respective shoes and means to retain the shoes in sliding relation to said elehooked relation to said shoes.- 7 20. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a'bufier mechanism positioned between said elements comprising a leaf spring provided with a separate shoe at each end thereof provided with a flat surface having a slidable engagement with one of said elements said spring having its medial portion attached to the other of said elements, each of said shoes attached to the spring to allow relative movement between the spring and the shoe in a horizontal plane whereby a surface contact is maintained between said surfaces and the adjacent element during service movements of the mechanism.

. plane and in a vertical plane substantially parallel to the wall element.

ment, which means also retains the spring in V 221 In a railway carhaving a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buifer mechanism positioned between said elements comprising a'leaf spring provided with a separate shoe at each end thereof provided with a flat surface 5 having a slidable engagement with one of said elements and having its medial portion attached to the other of said elements, each of said shoes attached to the spring to allow relative movement between the spring and the shoe in a horizontal 110 plane, in a vertical plane substantially-parallel to the wall element and in a vertical plane normal to the wall element. 7

23. In a railway car having a wall element and a diaphragm face plate element, a buffer mecha- :15

nism positioned between said elements comprising a leaf spring provided with a separate shoe at each end thereof provided with a flat surface having a slidable engagement with one of said elements and having its medial portion attached :20

to the other of said elements, each of said shoes attached to the spring to allow relative movement between the spring and the shoe in a vertical plane substantially parallel to the wall element and in a vertical plane normal to the wall ele- 25 ment.

GARTH G. GILPIN. 

